1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to elevators on rails on the outside of a building and more particularly to two elevators on such rails with a corridor attached between them to act as a moveable platform for fire fighting, emergency rescue, building construction and building maintenance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some buildings have elevators on the outside of the building, which offers a nice view as the elevator ascends and descends the side of the building. These are standard elevators and are not to be used during fires. The elevators have cables and are enclosed within the structure of the building to protect the elevator parts. There is usually a glass enclosure for the elevator so that people in the elevator can look out through the side of the building. These elevators are not available for removing large numbers of people from a building during a fire and are not useful for fighting fires or performing maintenance or construction work on the building.
There are window-washing platforms that use ropes on either side of the platform to support the platform as it travels up and down the side of the building. The ropes are spooled on a barrel, which is turned by an electric motor, which can be operated by someone on the platform.
There are no devices for spanning the entire face of a building, which can be raised and lowered to reach any point on the face of the building and can be used to fire fighting, emergency rescue, building maintenance or window washing.